Oxfordshire marriage bonds 1634-1849

Marriage bonds were made as an assurance that no legal impediment existed to prevent a marriage taking place. This was required when a couple chose to marry by licence instead of by banns. While the reading of the banns allowed for individuals to come forward with legal objections to the intended marriage before it had taken place, bonds served as a replacement means of assurance. A marriage bond would only need to be paid out if it was discovered that there was a legal reason the couple should not have been married. The licence would be given to the minister officiating the marriage, and the bond would be given to the Archdeacon’s office.

Britain, marriage licences Browse

Did your ancestor receive a marriage licence between 1446 and 1837? Browse through more than 10,000 records covering fifteen English counties including London, Lancashire, Suffolk, Exeter, Lincoln, Yorkshire to find out. Each record consists of a scanned image of the original document. Records will reveal the couple’s residences, father’s name, marital status and where the marriage took place.

A marriage licence was obtained from the Church of England for a fee and with a sworn declaration that there were no legal impediments to the marriage. The licence waived the banns period necessary for a marriage to take place. Marriage licences were first introduced in the 14th century.

England, Clandestine Marriages Browse

Did your ancestor enter into marriage through a clandestine or irregular marriage? Explore more than 42,000 marriages spanning the years 1667 to 1754 to discover their residence, where they were married, the date of their marriage and the name of their spouse. Most of the registers, notebooks, and volumes come from the Fleet area. London’s Fleet Prison was located beside the River Fleet. At the time these records were created, the prison was home to debtors and bankrupts.

Clandestine or irregular marriages were marriages performed outside of the Anglican Church. Until Hardwick’s Law of 1754, the laws around marriage ceremonies were lax. While marriage was technically required to take place in an Anglican church, those performed outside the church were still recognised, categorised as common law marriages. There are a number of reasons why individuals would have participated in these ceremonies. The couple may have wanted to be married in secret and away from their home. There may have been a reason that the marriage needed to be performed quickly. A clandestine marriage also cost far less than a traditional wedding. However, not all reasons were innocent, and the courtrooms heard many cases of people coerced or forced into a marriage or cases of bigamy

New Zealand Birth Index

Over 19,000 records have been added to the New Zealand Birth Index. Since 1848, births have been recorded in New Zealand and registration has been compulsory since 1858. Māori births were registered from 1913-1961, separate from the General register. However, some Māori events were recorded in the General system. Since registration was difficult to enforce, many Māori births were never registered. The records are from the combined indexes of both the General and Māori registers.

Each record consists of a transcript that will reveal your ancestor’s name, birth year the first names of their both parents and registration number. Post 1912 records may also include a stillbirth indicator. You can order a printout or certificate from the New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages website, which may provide you with additional information such as the couple’s ages, professions, place of marriage, statuses, parents’ names and occupations, and witnesses.

New Zealand Marriage Index

Over 10,000 new records have been added to the New Zealand Marriage Index. The records in this index pertain to individuals who were born 120 years or more ago.

Each transcript will include your ancestors name, registration year, registration number and the full name of their spouse. It is important to note the first four digits of the registration refer to the year the event was registered rather than the year of event itself. As more questions were asked for marriage registration after 1880, those later registrations will contain more details.

New Zealand Death Index

Over 32,000 records have been added to the New Zealand Death Index. The collection now contains more than 2.3 million transcripts taken from the combined indexes of both the General and Māori registers.